1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a means for holding a tire and more particularly to a means for holding a green tire carcass by engaging a bead portion of said green tire carcass. Specifically, the instant invention relates to a flexible member having a prominent lip member which is adapted to engage the inner portion of the bead of a green tire carcass. In operation, the green tire carcass is adapted to slip over the flexible member having a prominent lip member whereby the lip member is spring biased in order to retain the green tire carcass on the flexible member by engaging the bead portion of the green tire carcass.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A green tire carcass is an intermediate form of a partially processed tire comprised of a generally cylindrical-shaped member having a tire bead embedded at the end of each portion of the cylindrically-shaped member. In modern tire construction, the green tire carcass, which has yet to have the stablizer plies and tread applied thereto, is oftentimes a highly flexible member that is subject to collapse by virtue of its own weight. Since the green tire carcass is not a fully processed tire, it is necessary in order to further process the green tire carcass to mount it upon a tire assembly machine of either the manual or automatic variety. In order to facilitate mounting the green tire carcass on this machinery, it is extremely important that the green tire carcass not be excessively deformed.
Conventionally, green tire carcasses are stored on either flat racks comprised of a plurality of flat surfaces upon which the green tire carcasses are placed on their ends, on pin racks which are comprised essentially of a rack having a plurality of horizontally disposed tube members over which the first stage green tire carcass is placed, or on beehive racks comprised of a plurality of oblong shaped rigid plastic members generally resembling a beehive and adapted to engage the bead portion of a green tire carcass.
Green tire carcasses stored on their ends such as in a flat rack have a tendency to collapse about their midsection. Similarly green tire carcasses stored on pin racks have a tendency to assume an elliptical configuration. Both types of distortion substantially increase the difficulty of mounting the green tire carcass on a tire machine for further processing. Beehive racks are in general difficult to use.
There is, therefore, a need for a means for storing the relatively flexible green tire carcasses in such a manner as to minimize the distortion of said carcasses in order to facilitate their mounting to equipment used for subsequent processing of the green tire carcasses.
The instant invention solves these problems by providing a means for storing first stage green tire carcasses with a minimum of distortion wherein the bead portion of the green tire carcass is engaged by a lip member which provides support for the green tire carcass.